{ HER STORY }Assuming it was a written book seemed to be proved a wrong idea, most pages of it were blank white when she flipped through the pages roughly. She wasn't patient to begin at page one, but it seemed she was given no alternatives. The story wasn't given a title, but skimming it - she knew it was
her story.
She found a comfortable pose on the sole chair and began from the first word. "
Once upon a time -" It started like every happy ever after tales but she had a feeling it was a sad tale this time.
Dong Shu Lei. That was her name, the name of the Death huntress who was reading at that moment. Her hand brushed across the letters, and as if she cast a magic, the letters peeled away, vanished. Beneath, in replacement,
Arabella - was written instead.
If she was lost in the mist, holding merely a dim lamp before, she got out at that moment she read the unfamiliar name in her mind. It wasn't
her story, but
hers.
It recorded a petite maiden with dark long hair like she did, but Shu's dyed in a lighter brown with strawberry ombre towards the tips. Hers? As dark as raven's feathers. Arabella, her eyes were beautiful blue but it was never calm. If she was just a pale white vague figure when she entered the room, she obtained colors when she began to recall their differences, from hair to the hue of honey amber re-lit in her eyes.
Her story began in a small village, Arabella was not an Asian but a European, she still had a big family difficult to afford all at that time. Her impression colored as Shu read, she was short but fierce, the blueness of her eyes was forced to transform to something sharp and pointy. Same as the bitter memories, her family was wiped by the shadowlings, despair and vengeance filled her up, she met with the Great Knight Lancelot and the seed of becoming a knight planted. She was re-arranged to a new family, the dark emotions were suppressed by warmth and love
temporarily.
Riona, Arabella's best friend was a maiden as sweet as Noemi, they lived together with her fiance and an elder brother who was so good in cooking. The happy time didn't last long, as the flame burnt down their home, the flame inside her lit up again, it created a gap for the negative emotions to escape slowly.
Training was unexpectedly hard for a weak peasant like Arabella, through efforts and pains, she finally became a knight. She had only one thought, to get stronger and take revenge. She was attracted by the knights led by Merlin while Riona and her fiance joined the blue knights. That was the first deviation.
Shu could feel the pages turning grey, darkened into a darker color. She knew it was just an illusion, but it was from what she sensed from Arabella's story - despair, desire, sadness - and something she couldn't grasp quite yet, veiled. Thus, she continued to read.
Since the two parted, they didn't see each other frequently. The blue knight easily made friends with others, the black knight indulged herself in killing monsters, piles of body accumulated under her feet and she was tainted with bloods. Their paths went further away, to an opposite direction. The never-ending battles to drive the shadowlings away from the castle, the bloodshed and death and painful groans from the infirmary, all winded the black flame in her heart.
Arabella seldom join in conversation, she moved alone like a wolf. From time to time, she might see other knights in the same fight but she never greet. Eventually, she earned her position as a full knight. Countless wounds and a petrified soul, cape soiled with unwashable bloods she picked her sacred weapon - Or rather said the weapon allured her.
Yes. A weapon made from a wrathful grudging soul, full of ugly desires. A raum demon, demons were best in enthralling and sweet inducing. Arabella's desire for power matched with Raven's desire to avenge, the latter began to affect the former, marking the beginning of the tragedy. Unnoticeably, the black knight's eyes were masked by the strongest desire, Raven quietly exaggerated the weakness of the maiden and waited for a chance.
The Great Knight's corruption was the first step, she saw Riona again and they were locked up by the corrupted Galahad, they talked and she enjoyed it even their lives were threatened. With the help of the Sidhe Queen, they finally escaped. When Arabella wanted to give Riona a hug, she already dashed to her fiance. The hands dropped as loneliness invaded. She talked about a dear sister she met, her face was so joyful and excited. Was a person she just met beat someone who she spent years with? The sadness overthrew and wrapped the black knight up. Arabella didn't know what to do with those emotions, she lost a family once thus she clung onto that one. She was helpless for the unfavourable foreign sentiment that sent series of pains like throbbing heartbeat, she couldn't stop it. Like a hole gouged, she needed to find something to stuff it so that she won't break down. It didn't allow time like that.
She was quite stupid.
She used the wrong thing to stuff that hole, Shu knew. A pang of fear knocked against Shu's heart, she looked too much like her, would she.....She shook her head and read it again, there were not many paragraphs left.
To stuff the hole created by a sensation called solitude, she craved power even eagerer than before. She slain more monsters a day, she hurt herself and she even thought of killing someone. It seemed right for her, she was changed. She didn't approach Riona anymore, even she saw her, even her visage never left her mind alone. She made use of the desire, let loose on it and fed it, it grew bigger. The pages were now dark grey. When she volunteered for the sacrifice, she no longer loyal to the king but power.
She did not belong. To anywhere.
They returned to the dismantled castle, where Merlin finally revealed his true intention. Her weapon gained controlled with Merlin's magic and swallowed her. She would fight, but not what? Their intention were the same, she-they acquired the power to take revenge finally. Arabella no longer existed as Raven took over her body to attack the king. She recklessly marked the king with her anger and burning hatred but the knights remained loyal defeated Merlin.
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[
HERE]
After series of events they were not involved, her consciousness return to her.
She was a drifting existence, a small entity that was empty. She saw a gate and she was further away from it. Smaller and smaller until nothing but her. Her mind was blank, without anything she would pull out as expression or sentiment. She blinked, closed and opened her eyes. She could see but she was unable to make a direction.
The force bringing her slower and finally stopped when shapes brought into view. Small rectangular objects built up by themselves forming short structures in a line, the same objects piled up in a circle for a height, and then liquid emerged to fill the space up, they climbed upward and sprayed down. It was the sound of water. She looked further away, spindly long shadows pulled up by themselves and bloomed into branches. She looked skyward, it was full of cozy clouds and she moved her head down, onto the peaks appeared one after another, undulating up and down resembled a line chart.
On the top, a bizarrely shaped moon shining. It told her it was night time. She should never see such a place, but - a part of her felt joyful. She was a knight. She was also a Raum demon. She remembered, but it was different. The grotesque place beckoned her, it whispered
home.
It wasn't as bad as Shu think, as she read from the book. It was a different world, but a lovely home for the creature. She was glad to be able to take a peek of another world.
Arabella-Raven or - neither name fitted the creature anyway, she made her first move towards the space slowly constructed. Grasses drilled up filling the area around her as she quickened her steps, long tall trees she loved to perch, the flower fields they used to play in and made flower crowns, it was familiar for both. Roars from behind, a dragon glided passed and circled up the sky, Puca bounced around her and headed to the front to join the rest, serpents hissed and slithered past her, warning her not to step on their tails, she realized she wasn't the only one existed in this new world. Laughter and the noises of grass trilled from the back, there were some demons ran past and one of them gave her a pat on shoulder.
That was their world.
They no longer needed to fight for space, they had their own place. A fitful of exhilaration raised and she began to run. Beautiful scenery flashed on both sides, their world was so wonderful, their home was so amazing.
It filled up the gap in her heart.
She was so excited to take a good look at her new home when the glitter of the reflection caught her attention. A beautiful lake white but clear, like a mirror, she could see familiar figures in it. Arabella's family was in it, Raven's family was in it, they were smiling and they waved.
A drop of tear landed on the calm surface, it rippled and it ended.
The story of the knight named Arabella stopped there.